AnD in the City

Met Mark in Japantown along with Cass and Mars.........and a nice surprise, Amy showed up.....taking a day off of work (hopefully her boss doesn't read this, lol).  Amy most wushu players these days haven't even heard of.......she is the only women in the US to ever hold both All Around  and Taiji Champion Titles at the same time, most likely something no one will ever repeat. After all the greetings..........we were off to Honu's for Hawaiian Eats!  You'll remember I blogged about this restaurant earlier.........so one side of our table had Mochiko Chicken, I had the Ribs and Things, and Amy the Kalua Pig.  While we were waiting for the food it was time to catch up on what people were doing and who we had not seen for awhile.  WuDi was at the Nationals, He JingDe might relocate to LA,  Li Jing was working on a movie, Ronald, a Kei Lun Lion Dancer ...was seen by Mark and Pat in the middle of HK............. Mark talks about AnD and the fact they have reached the 600 artist mark....and there are artist coming foward everyday to join.  AnD I think has become a very viable social network based not just on people wanting to find friends, but on both social and cultural basis, and allows people not only to get to know artists but a chance to collaborate.......for fun as well as for social action.  We also mentioned who we liked to hear from.........maybe Wu Jing.............or Donny Yen..........for Wushu fans everywhere AnD offers a unique opportunity for people to follow top wushu players which was never possible before......nice to see the internet being used as it was meant to be ( not minefields of spam and malware!) We also spent some time discussing the importance of studying traditional Wushu...it lays the basis for the contemporary art, without which you cannot truly understand what you are doing....Wushu was never just a dance but a study of human potential and the ability to control mind and body.  Also you can then understand how the art has changed.......the true beauty of wushu is it's ability to change.......not static like many traditionalist think...........the forms passed down from generation to generation all were changed by the Masters who taught them. After the food came there was a great flurry of eating........if you haven't been to Honu's , you gotta try it out!  Then Mark unzipped his Magic Suitcase.........he had come directly from the airport..........and then passed out lots of AnD stuff..........now all of us can support........thanks Mark!  Then we synchronized our watches.....I'll see Mark at Calwushu on Friday.

Mark at lunch at Honu's with fellow AnDers: Cass, Mars and Amy.

After lunch it was time for Mark to unload his suitcase and pass out AnD Stuff...I got my Heavenly Kings T-shirt.....yea, kool !

Ok,cya all later!!